Benchclearing: Baseball's Greatest Fights And Riots

In spite of its reputation as America's favorite pastime, the bucolic sport of clean-shaven home-run heroes on lazy summer afternoons, baseball has had its share of embarrassing moments--those benchclearing slug-fests that bring piles of struggling players, ejections, and tarnished reputations. This is the complete collection of stories that Major League Baseball would prefer to forget, but that fans love to relive. A short list of memories: the controversial pitching battles that pitted Ventura against Ryan, Russell against McGraw, and Sweeney against Weaver. The dust-ups on base paths, such as Davis versus Knight and Robinson versus Mathews. Home plate fights between Munson and Fisk (and Piniella too), "headhunter" confrontations between Martinez and Sanders, and Clemens and Piazza, and whole chapters dedicated to Billy Martin, beanball wars, manager's fights, fan confrontations, clubhouse squabbles and much, much more. Here is the true, entertaining history of "base-brawl" over the last three decades, with a full-color photo insert. This colorful chronicle of American history is like no other, and it will appeal to a huge bestselling audience.